Anti-Competition Law Must Change

The digital economy is challenging our societal institutions. Social security systems need modernising, workers' rights must be extended, but also competition law must be changed.

As our laws are now, the (bogus) self-employed are regarded by law as single unit companies. Precisely this causes a problem: The self-employed workers on online platforms can join a trade union, but the moment the union helps them bargain their wages (regarded by law as their price), they can be charged with cartel building.

UNI Global Union demands the revision of anti-competition law. We cannot accept that these workers, who are underpaid, left without social security, individualised and subject to precarious conditions, are blocked from collective bargaining.

Workers on online platforms must have a right to collectively organise and build negotiation power. The economic and social consequences of blocking this right are large and will lead to a race to the bottom in terms of labour standards and wages in the remaining market

UNI Global Union, based in Nyon, Switzerland, represents more than 20 million workers from over 600 trade unions in the fastest growing sectors in the world – skills and services. A total of 90% of new jobs are expected to be in these sectors in the next decade.
UNI and our affiliates in all regions are driven by the responsibility to ensure these jobs are decent and workers’ rights are protected